Aird Laimisiadair

I just saw the Call the Midwife episode that was filmed on Lewis.  The scenes filmed at the Gearranan blackhouse village reminded me of one of the best short walk on Lewis, one that most tourists never make: the clifftop walk around the Aird Laimishader headland. 

I described the one-way hike to Laimishader from Gearrannan in the June 26, 2015 post, which you can read here. That is the best way to see the area, but it does involve a two-mile road walk back to Gearrannan. The easiest way to see it is the out-and-back hike from Borghaston; a beautiful three-mile hike to the headland and back described in Chapter 18 of Book 2.

What follows are photos taken during several visits to Laimishader, and from a sail past it; photos that span a period of 22 years, from 1997 to 2019.

Route of the walk from Gearrannan

Route of walk from Borghaston described in Book 2, Chapter 18

The original headland beacon at Aird Laimishader in 1997

The headland beacon in 2015 (now an IKEA tower)

Inland from the headland is Loch na- h-Airde. Anyone familiar with the prologue of Alasdair Alpin MacGregor's The Haunted Isles knows of the stepping stones that cross the stream here.

Loch na h-Airde - stepping stones at lower right

Stepping Stones - 1997

Looking out to the isles of Loch Rog

Old settlement site at Laimisiadar

Laimisiadar - once a monastery

St Ciaran's Well at Laimisiadar

A last look back at the headland